Amun

For much of the history of ancient Egypt, Amun was honored as the supreme
god in the Egyptian
pantheon.
However, he was originally a local
deity
in Hermopolis, a city in southern Egypt, with power over the air or wind.
By 2000
B
.
C
. Amun's
cult
had reached the capital of Thebes, and rulers began to honor him as the
national god of Egypt. However, after invaders known as the Hyksos
conquered northern Egypt in the 1700s
B
.
C
., only people in the south continued to worship Amun.

The Egyptians drove out the Hyksos in the 1500s
B
.
C
., and Amun's influence expanded rapidly. So did the size and splendor of
his temples. Two of the largest temples of ancient Egypt, located at Luxor
and Karnak, were devoted to the worship of Amun, and his cult controlled
great wealth.

At first Amun was only one of many deities worshiped by the Egyptians. As
he became more important, he was combined with the sun god Ra to form a
new deity called Amun-Ra. Egyptians honored Amun-Ra as king of the gods
and creator of the universe. They also believed him to be the father of
the
pharaohs,
a deity who would help these rulers triumph in battle.

Amun usually appears in Egyptian art as a bearded man with a headdress
containing two ostrich feathers, a broad necklace, and a close-fitting
garment. In one hand, he has an ankh, the Egyptian symbol of life, and in
the other, he holds a scepter, a symbol of authority. He is often
portrayed sitting on a throne like a pharaoh. As Amun-Ra, the god is
sometimes shown with the head of a hawk topped by a golden disk
representing the sun, which is encircled by a serpent.

pantheon
all the gods of a particular culture

deity
god or goddess

cult
group bound together by devotion to a particular person, belief, or god

pharaoh
ruler of ancient Egypt

This painting of Amun, one of the creator gods in Egyptian mythology,
decorates a tomb in Luxor, Egypt. Amun often appears as a human figure
with a ram's head.

The cult of Amun-Ra remained strong throughout Egypt until almost the time
of Jesus. The ancient Greeks associated Amun-Ra with Zeus, their own
supreme god.